According to the Economic Times, India, SQ is now asking for a 40% control of AI with the caveat that they will establish a new domestic carrier out of Bombay for hub and spoke operations feeding into AI's international network....(Damn good idea in my book - pity that the dimwitted Government babus couldnt think of it before). However, it's rather strange that SQ upped the ante at this late stage of the divestment because it has left the TATA group flumoxed and engaging in damage control, and has caused the usual coterie of swadeshi-saffron thugs and mahila mandal types to be even more incensed with their usual "anti-foreigner" diatribes.

I suppose it really does expose the perfectly ridiculous terms of divestment that the Indian govt put up - would any sane person on God's green earth wish to buy into a loss-making monolith that is still 49% + controlled by the usual cabal of UP babus and their cohorts? Hell, no ! However, it's absurd that both SQ and Tata went along with this farce for as long as they did. Does SQ really think that being the only player in the game would allow it to demand a better deal at this stage of the game? Does anyone know? Whenever you have the Singaporean government and the Indian government involved in a deal, there has to be more than meets the eye !!

According to Economic Times, SQ was asking for a 49% stake. Even the Tatas are having problems with that as they are privately telling reporters that they would like to see an Indian led bid for AI.

I think SQ's reluctance is understandable in the sense that in the proposed arrangement, they would have ended up with barely 19% while the Tata's would own around 21%. 19% is too less a no to pull any strings and SQ cuold have ended up in a disadvantageous position.

Another reason for their change of mind could be a shift in priorities for SQ. I had always questioned the amount of money that SQ would be actually willing to invest in AI. Since SQ is also looking at ANZ (and hence Ansett Australia), both of which require substantial investments themselves, and which are more important for SQ overall, they would have very little left for AI if at all!

As far as the Domestic airline idea goes, i dont think that SQ should be allowed to run a domestic airline in India. No country on earth allows that and we shouldnt either, and i think they realise it jsut as well. I feel this is bogey that they are raising to get out of the agreement. A proposal that could be looked at is that the Tata's could set up a domestic airline feeding the AI network which could be jointly owned.

But i doubt if the Naresh Goyal lobby (of Jet Airways) is going to let that happen.

Jay: Swadeshi is a concept that has been hijacked by some miscreants, but that does not reduce its importance in anyway. While i dont support the "India for Indians" brand of swadeshi, i think that understanding swadeshi in its truest sense is the only way ahead for India.

As for the other elements like the mahila-mandals opposed to divestment, i have for long been campaigning to get the Indian brand of Feminism (u know the behenji kind) banned. U know what the Mamta's and now the Jayalalitha's are doing to this country dont u?

I hardly think that SQ would own the domestic carrier. However, it would be to its advantage to have one established, because IC's feed to AI is ridiculous. The babus who run both don't seem to understand that if you're flying from Nagpur to Kuwait, you don't wanna hang around two airports for 10 hours, and have to fight the traffic between Sahar and Santacruz, or whatever theyre called now.

Also, while the TATAs may have managed AI in the 1960s they have been out of that arena since then. The airline industry has changed and SIA is one of the few airlines that has contributed significantly to that change. How much $$$ could SQ invest in AI? Who knows? But clearly they could arrange for preferable lease arrangements through their own leasing subsidiaries.

And as far as swadeshi goes, I think that having an international carrier of some prestige would go a long way in ridding "swadeshi" of it's apologetic "Jhopad patti'd, yet proud" self-aggrandized nonsense. Case in point: it appears that India's noise-producing politicians are more proud of Indian silicon valley entrepreneurs and Indian Miss Worlds than they are of all the Gandhisms and all the billion miles of scratchy khadi undies state textile mills have produced in the name of swadeshi.

Gossip coming out of AI is that SQ were paid off by the Hindujas to make unreasonable demands and scuttle the bid process. Based upon what I knew about the SQ/Tata bid structure, it is the only thing that would make sense. Ah well....

They haven't been removed. The system is still in place, but Sharad Yadav has forbidden its use for some vague dehaati reason (something to do with the invasion of the phirangi culture and censorship yada yada yada). As a result, the screens are sealed into the armrests and the 5 extra VCRs on the IFE system by 2L are left unused. Only in India....

What an imbecile !!
But yet, they continue to show Hollywood films, American sitcoms, et al on their flights. Do any rev pax still fly AI First/Business Class...or are they all Govt of India upgrades? And to think I'm doling out close to $ 4000 for this...

Imbecile?? You're too kind Jaysit! I'd use different words in combination for such a character! For obvious reasons, I'm refraining from doing that here!

Isn't "flying" an invasion of the phirangi culture?? Or did he invent that on his farm while milking cows! How on god's earth do illiterate people like this guy become the minister of civil aviation! Beats me!

All that remains for him to do now is to ground all desi airlines (including AI) siting "invasion of the phirangi culture." Trust me, he must have this cooking somewhere in the back of his mind!

For a guy from some miserable village in UP, being the local "daada" over a Rs. 1500 crore operation is really quite an achievment. I bet he doesn't even understand why people look at Indian airports and carriers and see the Third in Third World. To him, its all really quite fabulous !

I think it's favoritism rather than democracy coz I can't believe that we don't have a better qualified person for the job than this moron.

Unfortunately, this ideology prevails throughout our 'good for nothing' government back home! So, unless and until that is abolished, we can't really expect AI to get any better coz after Sharad Yadav, there will be others following his footsteps. I promise...

Think about what's happening up north in J&K. Do you think the gov is giving an appropriate response to what's happening? Hell no! It's the same thing like the the ministry of civil aviation. Just let the things go the way they are going and enjoy the "ghoos" while you can.

Which brings me back to the original question....will this mess ever get sold to someone who knows how to run it? Or is the divestment plan totally derailed for good. I can just see the government saying that in the wake of the UTI scandal (which only occurred because UTI should never have been run by the govt in the first place....financial markets always have a way of exposing schemes used to prop up the stock market), AI should continue under all the government goondas.

This is about the limit man. I know those bihari types in the Ministry were mcbc's, but this is plain stupid! Foreign Culture? Then why doesnt he ban all these foreing channels? Remember our CA Minister's tirade about "bal kati mahila" (women with bobbed hair)?

He deserves to be dunked into the Yamuna with a stone around his neck.